Process of dry-curing fish.



PATENTEI FEB.'20, 1906.

V. WHITMAN. PROCESS 0F DRY CURING FISH.

APPLICATION FILE MAR.15. 1905.

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viCToR WHITMAN,

ALASKA OODFISH COMPANY, OF SAN CORPORATION.

oF sAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, AssieNoR To FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A

PROCESS OF DRY-CURING FlSl-l.l

Specification of Letters Patent. A Application mea mmh 15,1905. seriaNo. 250,202.

Patented Feb. 20, 1906.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, VICTOR WHITMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes ofDry-Curing Fish, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a process which is especially designed for thedry-curing of salte ish, such as codlish and the like.

It consists in rst warming the fish and circulating currents of airabove and below the fish-supports andin cooling the air to reduce itstemperature and again circulating the cooled air over the ish.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown an ap aratus by which myprocess may be carrie out.

Figure 1 is asectional plan view of mydrier. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsection of same.

It has been customary to dry fish, such as codfish and the like, byspreading them after being properly cleaned and salted upon what areknown as flakes and these exposed in the open air until the fish are inasufliciently dry condition. Such drying is de endent altogether uponatmospheric con itions and takes a longtime, and as the fish containsmore or less gluten it is desirable to dry or harden this gluten, sothat it retains its firmness. Being exposed to too great a heat byartificial drying it will become soft and oily, which is objectionable.

It is the object of my invention to provide a method by which currentsof air of greater and less temperature may be alternately passed overthe trays or flakes containing the sh and means whereby the fish may befirst warmed and air then circulated over them, the air beingalternately heated for use and cooled to condense moisture which it 4mayhave accumulated before again passing it through the drying-chambers.

I here describe a suitable apparatus for carrying out my process. Thisapparatus consists of an exterior building or buildings of suitable-sizeand construction to suit the work which is to lbe carried on. Within thebuilding are vertical posts, asat 2, extending in parallel lines andhaving upon them horizontally-disposed ribs or supports upon which thetrays are slidable, the distance between the posts being such as toallow for the desired width of trays or flakes, which rest upon thesupporting-ribs and which .may thus be pushed in from one end until thetrays form a series of super `osed passages which are substantiallyclose by the iish which are spread upon the trays.y A verticalcirculation of air will take place when desired by reason of the openspaces between the edges of the trays upon each side ofthe posts 2, andthese spaces are sufficient for ventilation and to allow the heated airto escape upwardly as may be desired. A series of chambers formedbetween the superposed trays are each independently closed by doors atthe ends, as shown at 3. These doors may be opened Jfor the purpose ofintroducing and removing the trays as required, and the openings mayalso be adjusted while the curing process 'is being carried on, so as toregulate the amount of air which passes through the apparatus. The topis closed and has Ventilating-openings with controlling-gates g, bywhich the heating and cooling of the ish may be regulated.

The stacks, as they may be called, which contain the trays, do notoccupy the full width of the building, but leave a space or conduit ateach end of the rows of trays for the ingress and egress of air and forworking space.

For the purpose of circulating the air horizontally through the spacesbetween the trays I have shown a fan or air-forcing mechanism of anysuitable description, vas at 4. The air is forced by this fan through apassage, as at 5, and passes over a series of heated pipes, as at 6.These pipes may be heated, preferably, by steam or ot water and aresufficiently numerous to raise the temperature of the air to the desireddegree. The air after passing through this heater is directed into theconduit at one end of the rows of trays, and passing through the doors 3the air willpass between the superposed rows of trays and escape intothe open conduit at the opposite end of the trays.

This conduit conl nects directly with the inlet of the air-forcingmechanism 4, so that the air after passing through the trays is againreturned to pass through the air forcing mechanism to be again reheatedand circulated. After the iiow of heated air has continued for a certaintime it is necessary to the success of the process to pass a currentofcool air over the fish.

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This is effected by the use of a refrigerator or cooler 7, which mayconsist of a series of pipes suitably cooled and through and betweenwhich the air is passed and its temperature y means here described Iemplo reduced sufficiently before the air 1s again passed through thefan. The temperature of the cooler and that of the heatingcoil may beregulated inv any suitable manner, and the air may also be deprived ofjust sufficient moisture to give the desired results in curing the fish.The variation in the temperature will insure an exact result in thisparticular. A certain amount of the air will escape upwardly through theintermediate channelsbetween the posts upon which the drying-trays aresupported, as previously described, and also through the ventilators,and Sufficient fresh air to compensate this loss will enter throughvarious openings in the walls of the building.

In conjunction with the air-circulating heatingpipes, as at 9.Thesepipes are ocated between the trays of fish and extend from one endto the other between one set of 'trays and may return through asucceeding space, so

that substantially each line of trays will have a heating-pipe bothabove and below it, and each line of pipe will also lie between the twocontiguous superposed rows of trays. I have found that hot Water forthis purpose is very satisfactory. Heat for this purpose is suppliedfrom any suitable boiler, as at 10, andby `means of amainconducting-pipe 11 ay sufficient quantity" of heat is conveyed from theboiler to suppl the pipes passing between the trays. T 's main pipe mayhave a sufficient size to carry all the requisite heat `to the pointwhere the first line of pipe 9 is 'takenout vThe return portion of thispipe discharges into a receiving-pipe 12 of sufficient size andindependent of the main pipe. The main pipe is reduced, as shown at 11,after the first distributing-pipe 9 is taken out, and the nextdistributing-pipe takes its supply from this reduced portion and returnsit mto a section 12, which is continuouswith the section 12, but isenlarged sufficiently to receive the added amount of heating medium.Thus the main conducting-pipe is reduced after each distributing-pipe 9has been taken out, and the receiving and return pipes arecorrespondingly enlarged. From the last of these return-pipes theheating medium is returned tothe boiler through a pipe 13. Thus acirculation is maintained. The temperature of the heating medium may beeasily controlled, so that only a sufficient amount of heat will bedistributed between the traysv for the pro er curing of the fish.

If a slng e house and a'single curing stack is employed, the'circulationwill take place through that stack, as heretoforedescribed; but, ifdesired, a plurality of such houses each containing a drying-stack maybe located upon each side of the air-forcing mechanism, and the heatingmedium and the air maybe diverted to each of the stacks eithersimultaneously, or, if desired, it may be temporaril cut off at one sideby suitable gates z, whic will divert the air to the other stack, andthe alternate circulation of the cooled and heated air may in the samemanner be effected by properly-disposed valves or cocks.

By this construction the cooling-stacks may be alternately heated andcooled to' any desired degree and for the purpose of preventing theoverheating of the fish and alternately providing warm and cool currentsof dry air, which experience has shown to be most effective in properlycuring the fish.

Having thus descrlbed my inventiomwhat I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. The process of curing fish, said process consisting in first applyingradiant heat between separated layers of fish, and subsequentlysubjecting the fish to alternate hot and cool air-currents bycirbu'lating alternately cooled and heated air through the interspacesbetween the supported fish.

2. The process of curing fish, said process consisting in first Warming`the fish by radiant heat betweenthe fish, then allowmg the warm. air toescape and subjecting the fish to alternate hot and cool air-currents bycirculating currents of alternately cooled and 'heated air above andbelow the superposed fish-supports.

3. The process of curing fish, said process consisting in first warmingthe fish by radiant heat applied"M between superposed and separatedlayers thereof, withdrawing the body of warm air and then circulating acurrent of heated air between the fish-trays, cooling the air, and againcirculating said cooled air between the layers of fish.

4. The process of curing fish, said process consistin in first Warmingthe fish by radiant heat appl ed between separated trays of fish, thencirculating a body of air through the spaces between the fish, andsubjecting the fish to alternate hotand cool air-currents by heatingsaid air, and then cooling it between the periods of heating. l

In testimony whereof I havehereu-'nto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

j VICTOR WHITMAN. Witnesses: HARRY J. LAsK, JAS. C. HAYBURN.

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